Syracuse and Texas Tech can feel each other’s pain.
In Thursday’s semifinal round of the Legends Classic, both teams forged late rallies that came up a few points short, leading to their first losses of the season. Now the Orange (3-1) will face the Red Raiders (4-1) in the tournament’s consolation game on Friday night in New York.
Syracuse fell in a 14-3 hole early and was down 16 early in the second half before Eddie Lampkin started the comeback with a personal 7-0 run featuring a 3-point play and a dunk. Lampkin scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.
The Orange took a pair of one-point leads as time wound down, but they made only one field goal in the final 3:17 as Texas secured a 70-66 win at the free-throw line.
“There’s no consolation prizes,” said Syracuse coach Adrian Autry, who bemoaned three late turnovers as well as missed rebounds. “We had a chance to win the game, and we didn’t. That’s on us, that’s on me.”
Lampkin added six assists and five rebounds to continue a stellar start to his Syracuse career. The former TCU and Colorado center is averaging 14.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists through four games.
JJ Starling, one game removed from a 38-point performance in a double-overtime win over Youngstown State, led the Orange against Texas with 16 points.
Like Syracuse in its game, Texas Tech was behind by as many as 16 points in the latter semifinal game against Saint Joseph’s. The trio of JT Toppin, Darrion Williams and Chance McMillian scored 34 of the Red Raiders’ 42 second-half points to fuel a comeback.
McMillian’s bucket and foul gave Texas Tech a 64-62 advantage at the 6:44 mark — its first lead since 2-0. But the defense was lacking as Saint Joseph’s made four shots in a row with less than four minutes left. After Toppin tied the game with 1:07 to go, he was called for an over-the-back foul on a rebound attempt, and Justice Ajogbor made 1 of 2 free throws to deliver the Hawks a 78-77 win.
Toppin had 22 points and a remarkable 18 rebounds — 12 on offense. His season averages rose to 20.8 points and 11.2 rebounds through five games.
Before the Red Raiders hit the big city, Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said there were ways Toppin could be even better.
“I think the area of improvement needs to be, how active can we continue to get him defensively where he’s not just surviving a possession?” McCasland said. “Because he’s going to play against great players in our league, but now he’s been tremendous. I’ll tell you what I love about JT: He really does want to know how to get better.”
